The Iron Soul
by Avgi
Summary: Levy is the Valedictorian of the school. One fateful day, she forgets her homework at home and now she must help Gajeel, the school's delinquent, improve his grades by the end of the year. Will she be able to pull through, or will she give up on Gajeel? Disclaimer: Characters belong to Hiro Mashima. Story belongs to me :P
1. Chapter 1

**This is something I came up with while reading other Fan fiction. I will write more, but I'm also working on other stories, so keep in touch and also explore other stories. NaLu, Gruvia and possibly Jerza are coming up next!**

**Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima **

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Chapter 1

The Iron Soul

I frantically looked through my backpack, trying to find my biology homework that I had been working on for 2 weeks, but it was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Allen was a very strict teacher, who showed no mercy, so that only added to my stress.

"Gajeel, when are you going to learn? You need to become more responsible." sighed Mr. Allen. I raise my head and looked over his direction. Mr. Allen was slightly leaning over Gajeel's desk, waiting for an answer. Gajeel was sitting in a slided down position on his chair while looking down at his crossed hands, as if he was sleeping. "Gajeel?" Mr. Allen repeated. He then raised his head and looked right into the teacher's eyes. "Well?" he asked.

"I'll give you the homework tomorrow." he said with a straight face.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Gajeel. Rules are rules. I'll see you after class." He slowly went by every student checking if they had finished their own projects, when he finally reached me. After the scene with Gajeel, I knew that it wouldn't end well.

"Levy, do I even need to ask?" he smiled at me. I was his top student, so saying my next words really pained me.

"Maybe today,... that might be necessary." I tried to laugh it off, but he was not amused. "You see… I, uh… I left it at home…" I stuttered. He sighed.

"Alright Levy, I understand. Just bring it in tomorrow, alright?" Even though I felt relieved, I knew that wasn't fair, especially towards Gajeel.

"No, not really Mr. Allen. It's not fair for the other students. I'll take the penalty like any other person." I immediately regretted saying that. I definitely did not want to ruin my perfect record, but there was no going back.

"I've got to say, I'm really disappointed, Levy. I'll see you after class." And within seconds, he had gone back to his desk and dismissed the class, all except me and Gajeel. "Come up to the front, both of you." He sternly said. My knees were shaking. I knew I should have been feeling so scared, but that was the first time I ever forgot my homework. If he were to record this, I would never be able to get into my top choice in college. Okay, maybe that is an over exaggeration as well, but I couldn't help it. I managed to get to the front but my head was tilting down in shame. "Gajeel, you too." he grunted. I looked back ever so slightly, only to see Gajeel staring off into space like nothing was going on. Suddenly he turned his head in our direction, while making eye contact with me. I quickly turned my head in its original positioning. I felt the vibration of the chair as Gajeel slid it across the floor. Moments later he was standing right beside me. I had never noticed it before, but he was massive. I always knew I was small for my age, but he must have been the largest person I had ever seen.

"What's up teach?" He casually said.

"Definitely not your grades. In fact, they're way down low."

"That all?"

"I can only imagine what your English teacher is going through." Mr. Allen said with a sigh. "Listen Gajeel, this is no time to be messing around. We are half way through the year and you still have made no effort, regardless of how many times we have reached out to you. Keep it up, and you'll never see yourself graduate."

"That's fine."

"How can you say that? I can understand people not wanting to go to college, but not having a High School diploma, you'll never go far in life, let alone down the street." I blurted out. I immediately bit my tongue once the words left my mouth. Why did I care? Was that just me being responsible, that it made me want to help other people's problems. I looked at both of them and saw surprise in their expressions. I guess I wasn't the only one who was caught off guard by what I had said. "Sorry." I whispered.

"Don't apologize, Levy. I'm actually glad you said that while also grabbing his attention." He reassured me. "With that said, I came up with a way for all of us to gain some kind of benefit. Gajeel, your punishment is to simply finish your homework on time from now on. No excuses whatsoever. If not, I will have to take more drastic measures."

"How will you make sure I'll do the work, Teach?" he asked blantly.

"Thats where Levy comes in." I raised my head in confusion.

"I don't need a babysitter." He argued.

Mr. Allen ignored his snarky comment and continued with what he had to say. "Levy, I don't want to punish you. You are a really outstanding student who has only slipped up once. It's perfectly normal, do not worry. But since you think I should punish you, I will assign you to help Gajeel with his studies. And since I praise you for all of your hard work from all four years since I've known you, I will not penalize you for the homework, and, in addition, I will include extra credit since this seems like a fairly difficult job." he smiled.

"I uh… that sound… wonderful." I struggled to say.

"Excellent. I believe there are no objections?"

"One." grunted Gajeel.

"Perfect, you are dismissed."

Walking down the halls with Gajeel must have been the most awkward moment in my life. Sometimes he would mumble something insulting about Mr. Allen, and other times he would yell out to me to keep up.

"So uh… when do you want to start?" I shyly asked.

"Tomorrow's good."

"But you have a project due tomorrow. It needs to be today." I objected.

"Problem?" he asked while trying to look intimidating

"Well yeah, it is. Whatever you do will affect me in the process as well. That's not fair."

"That doesn't concern me. How about you run on home before it gets dark, little shrimp?" he ordered while walking away.

"Don't call me that! And it should concern you! I stood up for you, and that's the reason why I'm in this mess!"

"Maybe you should learn to not be so naive!" he shouted back. "People will take advantage of you."

"Like you are now?"

"Exactly." and with that he kept walking. What was I supposed to do? He was so stubborn. I stand there looking in his direction as he walks away in the afternoon light. So many things were popping in my mind that I wanted to scream at him, but I didn't have the courage to do it. "Well? Are you coming or not?" I then noticed he had stopped and was looking in my direction. "I'm not gonna wait any longer."

"Uh, yeah sure!" I shouted. I quickly grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder and ran to him. Why did he suddenly change his mind? Was it because he didn't want to fail the class, or was it because of me? I dismissed the thought as I quickly approached him. "So? Shall we go to my place or yours?

"Yours. Make it easier for you." he mumbled. It shocked me when he said that. Just two seconds ago, he was scolding me for being too naive, yet at that moment he cared about making my life and this task easier for me. I then thought that he might not be that bad of a guy that people make him out to be.

"Okay!" I cheered as we set off for my home.

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**Please leave comments and any suggestions on what you would like to happen next!**


	2. Chapter 2

**All things Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima. Picture also belongs to its rightful owner.**

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Chapter 2

Nuclei

It was getting dark pretty quickly as Gajeel and I were walking back to my place. I knew I was not a little kid anymore, but the dark still kind of scared me. My parents always warned me about walking around after curfew. Many street thugs wandered around, attacking anyone who was smaller than them, and I was the smallest of them all. I looked towards Gajeel as I walked beside him, but he was minding his own business.

"Do you need something, shrimp?" he asked in annoyance.

"I uh… uh n-no." I stuttered.

"We'll stop looking at me." he responded. I immediately turned my head and looked away. It was a real pain going through with his attitude, but I did put my self up for it, and I was determined to finish it.

For the rest of the walk home, the only thing that I could think of was Gajeel and how I came to know him. I had lived in the city of Magnolia my whole life and attended Feare academy since pre-school. I only crossed paths with Gajeels four years ago, during Freshman year. I remember him being a pain, especially to all the teachers. He would show up late to all the classes, and he would also skip. He would talk back, insult, cuss and sometimes he would get into fights. It was a miracle how he never got expelled. I never personally talk to him or even go near him. As the class representative and valedictorian, I never really had time to make new friends. My schedule consisted of me, going to school, coming back from school, studying and then sleep.

"Right or left?" Gajeel asked.

"Huh?"

"Pick one." I snapped out of my head and realized we had come into a split road.

"Oh, sorry. Left." I managed to say.

"Why are you spacing out? If you do that when you're on your own, someone could kidnap you."

"I'm just thinking about something, that's all." I mumbled

"You're lucky I'm here while you're doing that." he then said. I looked up to him in amazement. Gajeel was the type of guy who never opened up to anyone, let alone even talk to, and there he was looking out for me. "Don't read too much into it. It's not like I have a crush on you or anything." he smirked. I really did have high hopes for him, and he always found ways to disappoint them.

"I didn't think that you did! How can you say that? I'm just your tutor! Why…. wha…!" I started to freak out. Gajeel placed his hand on my head while gently patting it.

"I'm just messing with ya, little shrimp!" he laughed.

After a while of walking, we finally reached the front gate to my house. Even though I stopped, Gajeel proceeded to walk. Once he noticed that we had reached our destination, his jaw dropped in amazement.

"This is where you live?" He asked in astonishment.

"Y-yeah." I mumble.

"It's freaking huge! What, you have a freaking private mall in there?"

"Of course not!" I protested. I then approached the gate and pressed the doorbell. Seconds later, a response came from the speaker. "Darien, it's me, Levy. Could you open the door for us?"

"Why of course Miss Levy. Welcome home." he answered back. I slight buzz was heard and the front gates automatically opened. Once we reached the front door, Darien was in view, waiting for us to come in. "Would you like us to prepare some tea, for you and your guest?" he asked.

"Sure, that would be great. Thank you Darien."

"You have your own Sebastian?" asked Gajeel.

"His name is Darien." I stubbornly said.

"How do you do?" asked Darien politely.

"How do I do what?" Typical.

"We'll be upstairs studying, Darien." I said while heading for my room.

"But of course Miss Levy. Pleasure to meet you, Sir." He smiled and retreated into the kitchen.

"This is weird." Gajeel groaned as he followed behind me.

"Right in here." I opened the door to my room and invited him in. It was really unsettling having a boy in my room, especially a guy like Gajeel, but considering the study is strictly for my parents, this is the only place that we could work in. "Make yourself comfortable."

"What the…?" I heard him say. I quickly turn and see a dumbstruck face staring into my room.

"What?"

"Is this a room or a library?" he asked.

"Ignoring that." I walk across my room and drop my backpack on my bed. I turn around and saw that he was still standing next to my bedroom door, looking around my room. "Well, are you gonna come here or not."

"Wow, so straightforward. Should I take my clothes off now or after?" he smirked

I'm pretty sure my face turned bright red at that comment. "W-w-what!? D-don't be ridi-diculous!" I stuttered.

"Relax, shrimp. I'm just messin'."

"Meanie!" I spat out.

"Gihi." He started to walk across my room and slowly reached my bed. "You know, I always thought of you as the crazy bookworm person whose floor is filled with books rather than dirty clothes."

"How can you say that! Books should be respected! They're not something you just throw on the floor!"

Gajeel just stared at me in disbelief "I take that back, you are the crazy bookworm person."

"Am not!"

"Yeah, you're right… you're the shrimp."

"And you're the jerk! So nice to meet your acquaintance." I said sarcastically with a smile on my face. He scoffed at my smart remark. "Can we please just get this over with?" I whined.

"What you don't like hanging out with me?" he asked while plopping down on my bed, making himself at home.

"Its not that. We just have to do your homework." he sighed at that. I rolled my eyes at his unwillingness to cooperate and sat down on my bed. I then reached into my backpack and took out my biology book. "So, the assignment due today was a color graph of the two different cells. Correct?"

"There's two? I thought there was only one?"

"Anybody could think that, but we did this last week so you should know this." He exhaled at that. "There's the Eukaryotic cell, the one that has a nucleus and the Prokaryotic cell, the one that doesn't have a nucleus." I said with excitement, thinking I got his attention. But, to my failure, he just stared at me with a blank face. "What don't you understand? I just said one sentence."

"First you talk about cells and then about nucleuses? How can you not think I'd be confused?" he growled in annoyance.

"Nuclei." I mumbled.

"What?"

"Plural for nucleus…" I noticed that his eye twitched from the aggravation. "...is nuclei."

"Kill me now."

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**Hey guys, **

**Finally thought I should upload this story. I'm scared about this one cause I don't know where I'm going with it, but I love how it flows, so hopefully I come up with something soon. If you guys have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Constructive criticism is welcome. :)**


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